One of the most popular options when it comes to streaming music is Spotify. This is because of its great variety of features and benefits. Besides the fact that it is free, there are also some paid versions of the service. It is important to know which one will fit your needs best. You should take into consideration some factors, such as how much you want to spend and whether or not you want to access the shuffle mode and group sessions.
Free vs paid
There are many different music streaming services in the world. Spotify is one of the most popular. With over 400 million users worldwide, Spotify is an accessible service that offers millions of songs for free. If you are looking to upgrade to a premium account, you have a number of factors to consider.
The best way to decide which is right for you is to look at your budget. You can also get a free trial, which gives you the opportunity to try out all of Spotify’s features for a month. Once the trial period is over, you can then choose to continue using the service for a monthly subscription.
Although the features offered by Spotify’s Free and Premium plans are quite similar, there are some differences. While the Free version provides limited playback options, Premium offers the most advanced options.
Spotify Premium offers a number of exclusive benefits, such as the ability to stream new releases before everyone else. You can also enjoy 320kbit/s streaming, and download songs to listen to offline.
Spotify Premium also offers a more comprehensive selection of songs than the Free version. This includes a family mix, which recommends songs based on your listening habits. Users can create shared playlists, which can be a nice way to organize your music.
In addition, the Premium version is available for mobile, desktop, and smart TVs, as well as tablets and games consoles. It even comes with Apple CarPlay.
Group Sessions
Spotify Premium users can now enjoy music together by using the Group Session feature. It’s been in development since last year, but today’s update has finally rolled out to all Premium subscribers worldwide.
The Group Session feature allows up to five people to listen to the same content at the same time. This is great for families and friends to enjoy some time together. You can even create your own playlists and add songs to the queue.
There’s also an option to share your own music through the app. If you want to share a song, you can send it to your friend’s device and they can play it on their speakers.
You can also share a group link to your playlist and invite your friends to join the session. You can share the link through messaging or Facebook, and you can also give your friends a Spotify code to scan on their phones.
Group sessions can also be played with a group of Bluetooth speakers, which means you can control your speaker and listen to the music with your friends. However, if you’re sharing a Bluetooth speaker, make sure you’re using the same WiFi network.
One thing that’s new is the ability to control the volume of each player on your device. In addition, you can reorder tracks in your playlist. For example, you can reorder your favorite tracks so you can have the best party soundtrack.
Family Mix
If you are an existing Spotify Premium subscriber, you probably have a Family Mix playlist. This is a personalized playlist that you’ll receive regularly. It includes songs your family members agree on. You can customize the playlist to include or exclude tracks you don’t like. The playlist also includes recommended songs based on your listening activity.
Family Mix isn’t available to everyone yet. Earlier this year, Spotify started testing the feature in the US and Ireland. In May 2022, it will be phased out in all markets.
If you’re not yet a Premium subscriber, you can sign up for a 30-day free trial. When you do, you’ll be able to add up to five additional users. After adding them, you can use their individual dashboards and see their music choices.
Spotify will check your addresses to verify that everyone in your family is located at the same address. However, once you’ve verified your address, the information will not be used for internal purposes.
Unlike the Duo Mix playlist, Family Mix doesn’t offer the ability to change the playlist by mood. You can still add or remove tracks, but you can’t change the order.
Spotify recently introduced Blend. Similar to Duo Mix, you can create a playlist that allows two people to share songs in their libraries. With Blend, you can create a collaborative playlist that includes up to 10 members.
Duo Mix
Spotify has introduced a new feature called Duo Mix. This feature is designed for couples who want to listen to music together. It allows two people to share a single Premium account.
With the new Duo Mix, you can enjoy a variety of songs and albums, while letting your significant other know what you like. When you click on the Duo Mix icon in the Spotify app, you’ll get a list of music you’ve both listened to. You can also add songs to a new playlist.
Spotify’s Duo Mix is similar to the Daily Mix playlist that is included in the Premium plan. Each week, Spotify will generate a unique playlist based on your listening activity. After two weeks, you’ll receive suggestions for songs you’ll both enjoy.
The Duo Mix can be used on the mobile app as well. It comes with an upbeat mode. In upbeat mode, the tempo of the playlist is boosted. On lazy Sundays, you can switch the playlist to chill mode.
Once you’re signed up for a Duo account, Spotify will send an in-app notification. You’ll then be asked to confirm your address. By clicking on “Confirm my address” and completing the address verification process, you agree to the Terms of Service.
As with any Premium Duo subscription, you’ll receive a monthly bill. Your first Premium bill will come from Spotify.
Shuffle mode
Spotify has always been criticized for its shuffle playback. But now, the company has responded with an update that will change how it plays music.
The company is introducing a separate play and shuffle button, which it says will improve the listening experience. It will also include a shuffle feature in its Premium subscription tier.
This new feature is only available to Premium subscribers and will be introduced over the next few weeks. It will be available on iOS and Android devices.
Before, the Spotify app used a combined play/shuffle button that was confusing and inconsistent. It was a thorn in the side of users for a long time. In 2020, Spotify decided to implement separate play and shuffle buttons. However, the updated interface did not go over well with customers.
After the changes were implemented, some people still complained about the functionality of the new buttons. Some users noted that the Play and Shuffle buttons were not the same on the desktop and mobile versions of the app.
While the new buttons are not revolutionary, the change should make the Spotify app more intuitive. Users can now choose their preferred mode, whether it is a shuffle or a chronological order. They can customize their playlists to their own preferences, such as genres and artists.
The shuffle feature will also be added to the Spotify Premium tier. This will allow users to shuffle albums.
Downloading playlists
If you are subscribed to Spotify Premium, you can download songs and playlists to your mobile or desktop for offline playback. The premium version of the service offers ad-free access to 82 million tracks. It also allows you to download up to 10,000 songs on five devices. You can also use the app to listen to podcasts.
To download music, you must first set up a personal Spotify playlist. Next, you must log in to your Premium account. Once you have logged in, you will be directed to a screen that shows you all of the available music. Using this list, you can create new playlists.
Next, click the gray downward arrow pointing at the top of the list. From this point, you can select which music to download. For example, if you want to download all of the songs in an album, you can do so by tapping the gray circle with an arrow pointing down.
After completing this step, you’ll have a playlist of all the songs that you have downloaded. You can remove any of the songs from this playlist, and if you want to, you can add new ones to it.
If you want to play the songs that you have downloaded in an offline mode, you will need to find them in the Playlists section of the app. All the music on Spotify takes up a lot of space. This is why you may not be able to download every song in your collection.